South Lake Tahoe detour could slow cycling fans

CALTRANS

Published 4:00 am, Tuesday, May 10, 2011

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C. C. Myers,Inc., workers, (left to right) Juan Espinosa, Pedro Gallegos and Fernando Mendoza well into the construction project on Tuesday May 10, 2011, with Highway 50 into South Lake Tahoe, to be closed completely on Wednesday for two weeks to replace the seven section crumbling stone wall along the shoulder at Echo Summit, Ca. less

C. C. Myers,Inc., workers, (left to right) Juan Espinosa, Pedro Gallegos and Fernando Mendoza well into the construction project on Tuesday May 10, 2011, with Highway 50 into South Lake Tahoe, to be closed ... more

Photo: Michael Macor, The Chronicle

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The Lakeside Inn and Casino, in Stateline, Nv., on Tuesday May 10, 2011, is having a special package deal for guests with the closure of HIghway 50, which includes a discount room rate, a pitcher of beer and a tee shirt. Highway 50 into South Lake Tahoe, will be closed completely on Wednesday for two weeks to replace the seven section crumbling stone wall along the shoulder at Echo Summit, Ca. less

The Lakeside Inn and Casino, in Stateline, Nv., on Tuesday May 10, 2011, is having a special package deal for guests with the closure of HIghway 50, which includes a discount room rate, a pitcher of beer and a ... more

Photo: Michael Macor, The Chronicle

South Lake Tahoe detour could slow cycling fans

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Beginning today, and continuing for the next two weeks, the trek to South Lake Tahoe will take an hour longer and require an alpine detour from Sacramento or Placerville. Caltrans is closing Highway 50, the most popular route to the South Shore, over 7,382-foot Echo Summit to replace a 70-year-old rock wall that is all that stands between drivers and a long plunge down a steep mountainside.

The closure, which has been planned for more than two years, would normally be little more than an inconvenience for South Lake Tahoe residents, who have endured many closures due to heavy snowfall and summer wildfires. And May, sitting between the end of ski season and the start of summer vacations, is the slowest month of the year for tourism.

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But this is not an ordinary May. Last fall, South Lake Tahoe was named as the starting point for initial stage of the wildly popular Amgen Tour of California bicycle race, which will circle the lake. Civic groups and merchants planned days of special events and hoped to lure throngs of cycling fans for the race, which begins Sunday on the California-Nevada state line.

Caltrans had hoped to start the work at the end of April or the beginning of May, but the snowy winter and a problem with the framework for the new safety wall pushed the closure back. Caltrans and South Lake Tahoe business officials decided to start the work and hope for the best, rather than risk pushing the Highway 50 closure into the Memorial Day weekend, the traditional start of the busy summer season.

But some merchants complain that the closure is coming at the worst possible time, just when the South Shore, hit hard by the decline of its casino business, has the chance to show off its beauty and riches to a new group of visitors.

"This is a once-in-a-lifetime chance to draw people to Tahoe," said Tyler Cannon, who has owned the popular Sprouts Natural Food Cafe, on Highway 50 in South Lake Tahoe, for 20 years. "I'm afraid this is going to affect some people's plans to come up here."

Cannon, who's had some of the competing cyclists come to eat in his restaurant after training, wonders why Caltrans couldn't wait for the Tour of California to pedal out of town before closing the highway.

"It's pretty infuriating," he said. "Obviously these guys have never had to write paychecks to people or depend on tourism. After this much of a delay, they could have waited for another four days."

Concrete must cure

Deanna Shoopman, Caltrans' outreach coordinator for the Tahoe Basin, said the work atop Echo Summit involves demolishing the 1 1/2-foot-tall old stone wall - installed in the 1930s, damaged over the years and not close to meeting modern safety standards. It will be replaced with a 32-inch faux rock concrete wall designed to resemble the original. It will be connected to a new 18-inch-thick slab of concrete that will be poured beneath the eastbound lane of the highway. The road needs to remain closed while the concrete is poured and until it cures - a process that takes several days, she said.

"We chose to go ahead and get done now," she said, "so we would be open Memorial Day weekend."

Speed bonus possible

Caltrans has promised to have Highway 50 open by May 25, but it could open earlier. C.C. Myers Inc., the speedy Sacramento-area contractor that fixed the MacArthur Maze in record time and performed some of the quick Labor Day weekends work on the Bay Bridge, is doing the $1.9 million construction job and could earn a bonus of $150,000 a day, up to $600,000, if the work gets done early. If the work is delayed, Myers would have to pay an identical penalty.

"It'll be open Memorial Day weekend," vowed Beth Ruyak, a spokeswoman for Myers. "Fully open."

Even then, there will be alternating one-way traffic Monday through Friday for six weeks.

While many merchants are concerned the closure could tamp down their Tour of California business, most are thinking positive, hoping for the best and trying to coax visitors to Tahoe by offering special deals during the closure. At the Lakeside Inn and Casino, those staying at the hotel get a free pitcher of beer, along with a T-shirt reading "No Echo, no problem."

From Sacramento: Exit Highway 50 at Power Inn Road and take Highway 16 east to Highway 49 south. Turn left (east) at Highway 88 in Jackson. Go to Highway 89 and turn left (north) and follow it to Highway 50 near South Lake Tahoe.

From Placerville: Exit Highway 50 at Missouri Flat Road and take Highway 49 south. Follow it to Highway 88 in Jackson and turn left (east). At Highway 89, turn left (north) and follow it to Highway 50 near South Lake Tahoe.

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